With the 12th selection, the A’s pick…

UPDATE: The A’s picked Jemile Weeks (Rickie’s brother), a second baseman from Miami, after just missing out on Justin Smoak. Smaller than his brother and with less power, but still has 11 HRs this year, hitting .366 with an OBP of .447. Lots of speed, could be a leadoff hitter.

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No game today, but the MLB draft (11 a.m., ESPN2) will offer some excitement, especially since the A’s have the 12th pick, their highest since they took a USC lefty named Barry Zito with the ninth pick in 1999.

Oakland’s recent first round draft choices include a run of mostly good ones, starting with Ben Grieve in 1994 and running through Nick Swisher and Joe Blanton in 2002, but not much success since 2003.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like they’ll get another shot at 1B Justin Smoak, who they drafted in the 16th round in 2005 but couldn’t sign and then turned into a monster hitter at South Carolina. Hope he doesn’t get picked by the Giants, wouldn’t want to be reminded of that failure every day!